Crochet-hook.



S. S. SENGENBAUGH.

CROCHET HOOK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9, 1912.

1,091,395. Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

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SAMUEL S. SENOENBAUGH, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO T. BUETTNER & 00.,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CROCHET-HOOK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. SENCEN- BAUGI-I, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crochet- Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to crochet hooks or needles, such as are generally used in crocheting thread, yarn, and the like into fabric form, and is concerned particularly with the construction of the handle portion thereof.

It is sought to provide in the present invention a crochet hook or needle which will automatically adjust itself in the users hand by reason of the configuration of the handle portion thereof, to bring the hook end thereof into engaging position with respect to the thread or yarn which is used; to so arrange the handle portion of the crochet hook that it will adapt itself naturally to the users hand regardless of the size of his fingers, and irrespective of the manner or position in which the hook may be held thereby; to arrange upon the crochet hook a handle portion which, when desired, will enable a user to shift the position of his fingers thereupon wit-h ease and facility; to provide in connection with a crochet hook a handle portion of a configuration that will enable the user to manipulate the same in a substantially fixed relation between the fingers with the application of a minimum amount of holding pressure; and to design a crochet hook having a handle embodying all the aforementioned features of construction which combines therewith such a degree of flexibility and proportion of design as to enable a person to use the same without experiencing the least discomfort. Certain difiiculties have always attended the use of such crochet hooks or needles as I am aware of. If the handle is of a round or cylindrical character, it is impossible to keep the hook end thereof properly pointed with respect to the yarn or thread which is being used unless the attention of the eyes be constantly directed to this end. This objection is frequently obviated by forming the handle with two sides which are approximately fiat and arranging the hook at right angles thereto. A hook having a handle so formed, however, is not easily held Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 9, 1912.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

Serial No. 689,649.

in a fixed position between the fingers, and usually requires the exertion of considerable pressure by the fingers to prevent longitudinal or swinging movement therebetween. There is still another form of hook which is used sometimes, combining with a round handle a flattened portion at rightangles to the hook, said flattened portion being formed where it is presumed the fingers will generally grasp the crocheting instrument. This construction is objectionable, however, in that it is commonly desirable to hold a crochet hook at one time and during one operation of crocheting in a particular position, and at other times and for other purposes in other positions. It is also defective in that the users of a single crochet hook may have their hands and fingers differing widely as to sizes and shapes, and it is impossible, therefore, that a hook having a flattened portion so formed should ever accommodate itself perfectly to all the uses to which it would naturally be put, to the hands of various sizes and forms with which it is manipulated, or to the diverse ways in which the different hands may grasp and operate the same crochet hook. It is to overcome such difiiculties, as have been outlined, that the hook of the present invention has been designed.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my crochet hook; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; and Fig. 3 is a cross section through the handle portion thereof, showing the manner in which it is normally held by the fingers.

The hook comprises essentially but two principal parts, viz., a handle portion 4 made preferably of metal, and a hook 5 formed at one end thereof. The handle portion is characterized by a slot 6 extending longitudinally therethrough, whereby there are formed two parallelly extending arms 7 which merge at one end to provide a shank for the hook, and at the other to form, in efiect, a head 8. The hook formed in the manner described will be found to be admirably adapted to lie between the fingers comfortably and securely. As such an instrument is usually held in the hand, the bearing pressure is exerted upon the handle principally by the thumb and forefinger, although the second finger and the crotch formed between the thumb and forefinger may cooperate to maintain the crochet hook in position to be manipulated. On account of the divided construction of the handle, however, the fleshy portions of the hand which engage therewith will be protruded into the slot, and tend thereby to resist any lateral or swinging movement of the crochet hook between the fingers. Especially effective in preventing any such tendencies toward displacement is the action of the thumb and forefinger which engage with a relatively firm pressure upon the divided handle of the instrument close to the hook end thereof. Because of the fact that the pressure exerted by said thumb and fore finger will be from substantially opposite directions, the fleshy engaging portions of each of said fingers will be protruded through the slot a distance sufficient to cause said protruding portions to rest in engagement with each other between the divided arms of the handle. In other words, the fingers so placed constitute for each other a cushion against which the holding and manipulating pressure is largely exerted. It should, furthermore, be noted that inasmuch as this slotted formation extends for a major portion of the length of the instrument, it is possible for the fingers as well as the aforementioned crotch to engage with the crocheting instrument in practically any desired portion of the length thereof, thus rendering a crochet hook adaptable to hands of difierent sizes, and to different ways or manners in which it may be held by such hands. It may frequently happen, moreover, that, during its use, it will be wished to adjust the fingers longitudinally of the handle in a somewhat different position. Such a shifting or adjustment of position may be effected with only the slightest relaxation in the finger pressure and moving the instrument lengthwise as desired; in this movement, the instrument is automatically guided by those engaging portions of the hand which are protruded into the slot, thereby obviating any tendency to a lateral displacement thereof. As shown in Fig. 3, the amount of surface of the handle engaged by the fingers protruding in the slot is con siderable, since even the inner facing sides of the arms are engaged by the fingers. A crochet hook formed in the manner described may also possess a certain degree of flexibility which will permit of its yielding somewhat to the pressure exerted upon it in the course of its manipulations. It is also desirable that the direction in which the hook is pointed with respect to the arms of the handle should be in a plane perpendicular thereto. Since the handle will always tend to lie between the fingers in such manner that its arms will rest thereagainst, it is obvious that the hook will constantly point in a direction which will engage with the thread or yarn which is being used.

I claim:

1. An integral crochet hook having an elongated shank or handle portion at one end corresponding in form with the wire from which the hook is made; a hook at the other end, and a bifurcated portion intermediate said ends.

2. An integral crochet hook having an elongated shank or handle portion at one end corresponding in form with the wire from which the hook is made, a hook portion at the other end, and a widened portion intermediate said ends and which widened por-.

tion is provided with an opening.

8. In a crochet hook, a handle portion widened and bifurcated for a major portion of its length, the arms lying on either side of said bifurcation being spread apart to provide an elongated and widened opening therebetween into which engaging portions of the fingers may protrude from opposite sides from any point intermediate the ends thereof, said arms being united at one end of the device to provide a widened head and at the other to provide a shank for the hook, substantially as described.

SAMUEL S. SENCENBAUGH.

Witnesses C. LORGREN, J. WV. DEHNFRT.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

